Despite the fact that he was far from a lock at the outset of training camp, the San Jose Earthquakes’ all-time leading scorer was one of 23 players named to the final roster for the 2014 World Cup.

Here are his thoughts after making the cut.

Note: Questions are paraphrased but Wondolowski’s answers are directly transcribed.

How are you feeling now that you’re officially on the squad?

Not enough words can really describe it right now. A bit of a whirlwind. A bit gutted to see some friends not be involved. But at the same time very excited.

You just made your first World Cup at the age of 31. Was there any point when you doubted this would happen?

I think I always had that dream and visualization because I had belief in myself. And I definitely was struggling and any time as a striker you start doubting yourself, it’s not really where you want to be. But I think I really started to find my form and belief in myself. Especially as a striker, once the confidence starts going it kind of snowballs and I feel very happy where my form is right now. And I feel that it’s going to continue to grow.

Was there a particular moment when you felt that you might actually end up on the roster?

Yea, when I saw 23 guys in the room.

Who did you call first when you got the news?

It was definitely the wife, told her. She told me to shut up and didn’t believe me for a little bit. She did after a while.